


Not Quite Dickens

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: A Thousand Ways [12]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: A little angst, But mostly fluff, Danny Worries, First Kiss, First Time, M/M, Missing Scene, because that's what he does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-15 22:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13041096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Danny realizes his visions of a happy future had a distinct lack of a wife or girlfriend, but Steve was all over the place.(Set immediately after 8x11, but also spoilers for 8x10.)***NOW WITH ADDITIONAL CHAPTER******AND EPILOGUE***





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After 8x10 and 8x11 murdered me dead, I had no choice but to write this. If you guys are at all interested, I can add another chapter that shows Steve’s perspective and some stuff from after.

He'd wanted to see Steve.

Danny could admit that to himself, at least, even as he harassed the man in question for stealing Santa's cookies. Charlie was asleep in bed, visions of criminal Santas dancing round his head, and though Grace was only pretending to be asleep – best guess was she was texting Will – she was at least within the confines of her bed. The tree was lit, the stockings were hung, and the presents were (mostly) under the tree.

The only thing that was missing was Steve.

"You don't really have a problem with this, right?" Steve asked, talking with a mouth full of cookie as he leaned back against the couch. "I know I said I was gonna come over in the morning, but I wanted to be here when the kids woke up. Decided it was easier to just crash on the couch."

How the hell was he supposed to be mad at that? It was a textbook parent response, the sort of thing that all the divorced moms cooed over when he heard them talking at school things. Any one of them would kill for a potential second (or third, or fourth) husband who was so well-primed to take on step-parenting duties.

Except they _weren't fucking dating_. They were partners – _work_ partners, damn it – and best friends, but neither of those things was necessarily a lifetime commitment. Steve was straight, Danny had assumed _he_ was straight before all of this, and it was a hell of a time to realize that his subconscious had decided he was _married_ at some point.

And worse, that he _liked_ it.

"Danny?" Steve leaned forward, waving the last cookie in front of him. "You still with me? You can go to bed if you're tired – I can put the last couple of presents under the tree."

The words made Danny's chest constrict in a way that hurt, and he grabbed the cookie out of Steve's hand. "Why aren't you with Lynn?" he snapped, shoving a bite of cookie into his mouth so he couldn't say anything else stupid.

The genuine confusion on Steve's face was a thousand times worse than anger. "I'm seeing her on Wednesday," he said, brow furrowing like he really couldn't understand where the question had come from. "Christmas Day's for immediate family. It's why we had the ohana party early."

Danny closed his eyes. He _knew_ that. And he couldn't even argue that Steve wasn't immediate family, because he'd been tempted more than once to actually _give_ Steve a key to the house. But he couldn't, because he hadn't given Melissa one (he still hadn't), and so he'd told Steve about the hidden key so he could still get into the house whenever he wanted.

Steve even had a damn _stocking_ , right next to his and the kids. A happy little fucked up family of four, that only existed in Danny's head.

He let out a breath, making himself open his eyes. "After I got shot, I... kinda hallucinated."

Steve's expression immediately turned solemn, and he rested a supportive hand on Danny's knee. "I'm sorry, buddy," he said quietly, no doubt remembering how he'd hallucinated his dad still being alive while Wo Fat was torturing him. "Was it bad?"

Danny's throat tightened. "Actually, it was all pretty good. Grace marrying Will, Charlie's graduation from the Academy, Kono and Adam having a baby girl, Tani and Junior married...." His voice cracked, and he had to clear his throat before he could trust it again. "A nice future for everybody."

Steve smiled, eyes lighting up with happiness. "That's great! You're finally starting to see good things instead of–" He stopped suddenly, catching something in Danny's expression, and immediately sobered again. "But not for you?"

"No, I–" He hesitated, wishing like hell he could find another way to say it. The entire problem, though, was that there wasn't one. "I was happy. I didn't talk about it or anything, but I..." He swallowed, remembering what it had felt like to be in those moments. "I had everything."

When he'd first woken up in the hospital, he hadn't thought there was anything weird about the hallucinations. In a strange way, he'd been relieved – it was probably the nicest his brain had ever been to him.

It was only later, when he'd thought more about the little scenes he’d created, that he realized what he'd really done.

"That's... good, isn't it?" Steve asked carefully.

Danny's chest ached even worse now. Steve was looking at him with that expression that meant he was ready to leap into action and fix whatever was wrong, just as soon as someone told him what it was.

This, though, he couldn't fix. Or, more specifically, he wouldn't _want_ to.

Maybe, though, he could ease the pressure a little bit. If he could get Steve to back off, just a little, then maybe he could remind his subconscious that this wasn't something he necessarily got to keep.

He'd... work up to it. And hope like hell Steve figured it out before he actually had to say the words. "The thing is... I pictured Grace's wedding at _your_ house."

Steve's brow lowered. "Why wouldn't it be at my house? Neither of us really does the church thing, and you probably freaked out over how much it cost to rent anyplace half decent."

There was that "us" again. "I was running around it like I owned the place!"

Now Steve was looking at him like he was nuts. His hand, though, was still on Danny's knee. "You do that _now_ , Danny."

Hell, he probably did. He really had to stop doing that. "At Charlie's graduation, you were right next to me. Kamekona was next to his cousin, Tani and Junior had their arms around each other, and you and I were shoulder to shoulder."

Now Steve looked offended, damn it. "Why wouldn't I be? Did you think I wouldn't be there on such a big day?"

"That's not–" Danny took a deep breath, knowing there was no more avoiding it. "I mean it was _just_ us. No Melissa, no Lynn, no theoretical future wife or girlfriend for either of us. My head came up with my perfect future, and all it had in it was me and you."

By the time he'd finished, Steve had gone so still Danny wasn't sure he was still breathing. His stomach twisted, dreading what was coming, but he pushed ahead anyway. If he didn't get this all out now, he never would. "And I'd like to tell you that we were both just conveniently single at the moment, but I _knew_ that wasn’t it. In another one we were really old, and we were in the—“ he stopped, catching himself “—in _your_ backyard. We were sitting on those chairs you keep by the beach, and you finally told me that my granddaughter had called looking for me the day before." He could feel his heart starting to pound, harder than when people were shooting at him. "Which means my perfect future has me _living_ _at your house_ , and probably wearing your _shirt_ , because honestly I can't imagine buying anything like it even as an old man.” He swallowed. “I was complaining at you, because that’s what I do, but I was _so_ damn happy, Steve.”

Steve still hadn't said anything, just staring at Danny with an intent-enough look it felt like his skin was burning. His hand was _still_ on Danny's knee, grip so much tighter than it had been, and even through the sweats he could feel every inch of contact like a brand.

Danny _knew_ he should move his leg, especially if they were about to fight. The hell of it, though, was that he didn't want to.

Which meant he'd just have to get Steve to move his hand. "So you can put making someone bisexual on your resume–" damn it all to hell, he could actually _feel_ Steve spasm as he said that "–because if I was before my brain wisely decided not to tell me about it, but I definitely qualify now because I'm like 97 percent sure we were having sex in my hallucinations and I'm _really_ okay with that." He was thinking seriously about hyperventilating. "But I know you're not, so you should _let go_ of my leg and figure out a way to back out of my life a–"

There was more he'd planned on saying, but since Steve's tongue was suddenly in his mouth talking had immediately fallen to the bottom of his priority list. The kiss lit his entire body on fire, filling him enough warmth and light that he felt like he was glowing, and he tightened his arms around Steve and kissed him back with everything in him.

When they broke apart, Steve was the one who was breathing hard. "That's my counterargument," he managed.

Danny couldn't help the grin, even if he wanted to. The future stretched out before him, dazzlingly bright. "Best one you've ever made."

Steve grinned back, leaning forward for another kiss. "Merry Christmas, Danno," he murmured.

Danny closed the rest of the distance between them. "May it be the first of many."


	2. Chapter 2

Steve wasn't lying when he said he wanted to see the kids' faces Christmas morning. 

He'd already unwrapped presents with Mary and Joannie that morning, an early Christmas before he dropped them off at the airport to go back to L.A. Michael, Mary's boyfriend, had invited them to spend Christmas with his family, and Steve hadn't minded at all because he knew he'd be with Danny and the kids. They'd even gotten him a stocking, specially embroidered just like theirs ("What, you expect me to draw the names on with a Sharpie, you neanderthal?"), and his presents were underneath the tree right next to theirs. In all the world, there was no place else he'd rather be Christmas morning. 

But he also hadn't been sleeping that well since the isolation ward, images of Danny bleeding out or slipping away on the boat cropping up every time he closed his eyes. He'd rather be tortured a thousand times over than have anything happen to Danny, and that kind of fear took awhile to clear out of the system. He knew from Danny's thankfully brief stretch in a Colombian prison that it'd be another week or so before the nightmares settled down again, but until then he thought he'd probably have a better night with the three of them breathing safe and sound nearby. 

But Danny awake was even better, so Steve stole some of Santa's cookies just so Danny would harass him about it. Then Danny admitted he'd hallucinated while he was out of it, and Steve simultaneously tried to comfort him and figure out what the actual problem was. He thought he knew Danny pretty well by this point, but he honestly didn't understand why the things Danny was describing would make him sound so upset. And the fact that he was with Danny at Charlie's graduation? Of course he'd be there! Where else would he possibly be?

"That's not--" He heard Danny take a deep breath, like he was gearing up to say something important. "I mean it was _just_ us. No Melissa, no Lynn, no theoretical future wife or girlfriend for either of us. My head came up with my perfect future, and all it had in it was me and you."

Steve stopped breathing. There was no _possible_ way Danny could mean that the way Steve wanted him to mean it. Maybe he was panicking because he'd decided that meant he'd never get married again.

But Danny kept talking. "And I'd like to tell you that we were both just conveniently single at the moment, but...." On the story spun, them living together as old men and Danny wearing his clothes, and if he had a point he wanted to get to Danny better do it _now_ because this was just about more than Steve could take. Hope kept rising with every word out of Danny's mouth -- he'd said he'd had _everything_ , then almost immediately after said he'd just had Steve -- and he kept shoving it back down. He'd spent a long time loving Danny, and he'd accepted the fact that Danny only loved him back in some of the same ways. The love Danny did give him was already so much -- he refused to cheapen it by wishing for more. No matter how much he dreamed of it, sometimes.

And then Danny opened his mouth again, and for a second Steve thought he must be dreaming right now. 

"...So you can put making someone bisexual on your resume...."

The words rocked him, a tremor that shook his entire body. For the first time he could remember, the parts of him that reminded him to be careful, to never take too much in case he was denied completely, fell completely silent. Danny had always, always made him greedy.

Maybe he would have found the words to explain all that, to let Danny know that the future he'd described sounded more wonderful than Steve himself was capable of imagining. But then Danny started talking about Steve not being interested, of pulling away, and there was only one thing he could possibly do.

The kiss was like plunging into the most beautiful tropical ocean, suddenly weightless and surrounded by warmth and light. Then Danny pulled him in even deeper, arms tightening around him and kissing him back with the same kind of hunger that Steve felt deep inside his own chest, and he closed his eyes and let it carry him away.

When they finally broke apart, Danny's face shone like the sun. Steve felt giddy, like every Christmas he'd ever missed had suddenly landed in his arms.

They stayed there like that, wrapped up in each other, for what felt like hours. They couldn't do more than kiss, not until they'd officially ended things with Lynn and Melissa, but just the ability to freely touch Danny was the best gift. They soaked each other in, water in the desert, as night slowly turned into morning.

000

"Grace! I found Danno! He and Uncle Steve are snuggling on the couch!"

The words, said in Charlie's excited voice, were enough to yank Steve out of a warm, sound sleep. He opened his eyes just in time to see Danny lift his head, which had been tucked against Steve's chest, and they both turned in unison as Charlie threw his arms around them both. "It's Christmas, so you have to get up now," he said happily. "Uncle Steve, Danno told me about you stopping the bad Santas with the angels. But there's no more bad guys, right? You're gonna get to stay the whole Christmas morning?"

Steve was briefly paralyzed, not at all sure how to answer (and grateful beyond words that they were both fully clothed), but Danny already knew exactly what to do. "You bet he is, kiddo," Danny said easily, quickly slipping out of the tangle and standing up. He met Steve's eyes, eyes warm as everything home was supposed to be as his lips curved upward. "In fact, I'm pretty sure he'll be around even _more_ than he is now."

Steve still had an armful of Charlie, and his chest clenched hard when the little boy cheered and tightened his arms around him. Then Danny turned, and Steve followed his gaze to find Grace standing just at the edge of the hallway. Something about her expression suggested she'd been standing there the whole time, and she met Steve's eyes with a look somewhere between a question and a challenge.

Steve glanced over at Danny, who tilted his head a little in the way that meant the ball was in his court. Taking that as a vote of confidence, he tried to calm down his racing heart and turned back to Grace. "All I ask is you don't call me Step-Steve."

There was no surprise on Grace's face as she turned to her dad, who shuddered theatrically. "Definitely not -- I'll get flashbacks." He hesitated, looking over at Steve, then nodded. "Uncle Steve will still be fine."

At that, Grace grinned suddenly and drained all the tension out of Steve's muscles in a rush. "So," he said, standing up with Charlie still in his arms. "What do you say we talk your dad into celebratory French toast before we open presents?"

This time, both kids cheered. Danny sighed, pressing a kiss on top of each of their heads before doing the same thing to Steve's cheek. "You're lucky you're all cute."  



	3. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry -- I realized I wasn't quite done yet.

Later, when Charlie and Steve were chasing each other around the living room floor with Charlie's new racecars, Danny was proving he was the one adult in this family by doing the breakfast dishes. Grace, proving that hormone poisoning hadn't changed the fact she was still the best daughter in the world, was helping.

She proved it again when she put one of the plates in the dishwasher, then turned and gave Danny that smile that made her look like a little kid again. "I'm getting too old to be flower girl, so I really think I should be your best woman," she said. "Charlie can be the flower boy and ring bearer."

Danny's throat tightened, able to see it all too easily. "I'll probably have to call you my best daughter, because constantly reminding myself you could theoretically qualify as a woman will break my brain."

"If you two take as long to get married as you did to get together, then I'll be old enough you'll have gotten used to it by then." She hesitated, thinking about it, then wrinkled her nose. "Don't do that, though. It'll be better for both you and Uncle Steve if you're legally allowed to fuss over him."

He'd noticed how unsurprised she'd looked, but that sounded like she'd been thinking about this possibility for _years_. "I take it you saw this coming?"

Grace shot him the gentlest, most loving version of her "you're so dumb" look he'd ever seen. "Danno," she said quietly. "I know what a stepdad looks like."

Danny swallowed, chest squeezing tight. "And you're okay with that?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I've been collecting 'how to tell your kids you're lgbt' pamphlets for _years_ , so I can give them to you in case Charlie's too young to figure it out on his own." Then her expression gentled again. "Uncle Steve makes you happy, Danno. Even when you're complaining at him, you're happier than you are when he's not here at all."

Danny was suddenly, fiercely reminded of the hallucination he'd had of Grace's wedding day. As good as it had been, he'd gotten it wrong -- when it came to love, his daughter was already a hell of a lot smarter than he was.

Abandoning the dishes, he pulled her into a tight hug. "Anyone ever tell you you're the best daughter in the world?" he murmured, voice thick as he pressed a kiss against her hair.

She hugged him back just as hard. "I think someone may have mentioned it, once or twice."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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